Mad Hatter's Tea Party Ideas

A good place to start when planning a Mad Hatter's Tea Party is what style party you are going to have. There are 2 styles that can be used a classic/vintage look or a crazy bright look.

Curious Alice - Vintage Style

Our Vintage Mad Hatter range is a very popular choice with the vintage look being very fashionable right now.
For the vintage look, the colours are more muted, using soft pinks & blues. This style would work really well for; Christening, 1st Birthday, 18th Birthday, Adult party. If the weather is good, this is a great theme to have in the garden.

Tableware

Pretty themed paper plates and cups look great. They work really well with a white or ivory tablecloth or soft pinks and lilac. Accessorise the table with pretty Eat Me and Drink me tags and use cupcake wrappers, cake picks and Eat Me picks to complete the look.

Decorations

Crazy arrow signs make good party props, they look best when used together in groups of 3 or 4. Bunting works really well and looks very pretty. It can be hung between trees, around walls and around the edge of the table. Paper lanterns also look great for this theme. Freshly cut flowers in muted colours help complete the look along with stacks of pretty tea cups and teapots.

Party Food

Wacky Wonderland - Bright Style

For a crazy all out look, the bright style is perfect for the maddest party in town. This mad hatter's tea party style will certainly give the wow factor. Because there are so many colours, choose a few core colours so that the overall look looks unified. We would suggest Bright pink and bright blue contrasted with Black and white spots or checks. Great for young children and adult birthday parties.

Tableware

Use brightly coloured tablecloths and checked or polka dot accessories. Use a mis-match of chairs, different shapes and heights and use a larger chair at the head of the table. Use an assortment of teapots and teacups (charity shops and car boot sales are good for this as you want them all different).

Quotes

Quotes from the book also come in very handy for an Alice in Wonderland themed party; they can be used to decorate the room.

There are lots of quotes that can be used from the book, here's some of the best ones...

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6)

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6)

(The above quote is often mistakenly referred to as: "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there." But this line is not in the Alice in Wonderland books.)

The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?"
"Come, we shall have some fun now!" thought Alice. "I'm glad they've begun asking riddles. — I believe I can guess that," she added aloud.
"Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?" said the March Hare.
"Exactly so," said Alice.
"Then you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on.
"I do," Alice hastily replied; "at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know."
"Not the same thing a bit!" said the Hatter. "You might just as well say that 'I see what I eat' is the same thing as 'I eat what I see'!"
"You might just as well say," added the March Hare, "that 'I like what I get' is the same thing as 'I get what I like'!"
"You might just as well say," added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, "that 'I breathe when I sleep' is the same thing as 'I sleep when I breathe'!"
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 7)

"Well, in out country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else -- if you ran very fast for a long time, as we've been doing."
"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"
(Through the Looking Glass, Chapter 2)

Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said: "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
(Through the Looking Glass, Chapter 5)

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master - - that's all."
(Through the Looking Glass, Chapter 6)

"Who are YOU?" said the Caterpillar.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, "I--I hardly know, sir, just at present-- at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then."
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 5)

" Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin," thought Alice; " but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever say in my life!"
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6)

"Tut, tut, child!" said the Duchess. "Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it."
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 9)

"I quite agree with you," said the Duchess; "and the moral of that is -- 'Be what you would seem to be' -- or if you'd like it put more simply--'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'"
"I think I should understand that better," Alice said very politely, "`if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it."
"That's nothing to what I could say if I chose," the Duchess replied, in a pleased tone.
"Pray don't trouble yourself to say it any longer than that," said Alice.
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 9)

"Now, I give you fair warning," shouted the Queen, stamping on the ground as she spoke; "either you or your head must be off, and that in about half no time! Take your choice!"
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 9)

The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. "Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" he asked.
"Begin at the beginning," the King said gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop."
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 12)